September 23, 2004

Wimbledon

By | September 23, 2004

When I hear ‘From the makers of Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill’ in a preview for an upcoming movie, I expect to see Hugh Grant falling clumsily in love with an American siren in another fantastic British romantic comedy. Wimbledon uses the same formula, but masterfully substitutes Paul Bettany for Grant, making him fall in love with Kirsten Dunst against the backdrop of the English tennis championship. While the romance falls prey to underdevelopment, the action on the court and Bettany”s relationships with his friends and family balances out a formulaic plot line.

British tennis player Peter Colt (Bettany) is on a losing streak in his professional and personal life until he gains a wild card entry to Wimbledon and a chance to exit the tennis circuit on a positive note. Upon check-in at the Dorchester Hotel, Colt meets top seeded American tennis player, Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst), when he is accidentally given the key to her room. The two depart on a whirlwind romance with late nights, beer, and sex on the menu. Colt finds inspiration on the court through his romance with Lizzie, as passionate nights lead the down-and-out player to turn his luck around. While Peter works his way through the rounds of Wimbledon, upsetting one top seeded player after another, Lizzie”s overbearing father (Sam Neill) tries to halt the romance for fear that it is distracting his daughter from her own goal of winning Wimbledon.

While Bettany and Dunst have chemistry on the screen, Director Richard Loncraine rushes the romantic story line, pushing Peter and Lizzie together quickly and not investing enough time in the relationship. This lack of development translates into awkwardness when the romance enters into the cutesy banter that most romantic comedies try to perfect. The actors” attractiveness and chemistry carry the romance through some of these rocky moments, but the movie really takes off on the tennis court, making Wimbledon an appropriate name for this film.

With the help of Australian tennis player Pat Cash, the tennis scenes are well choreographed and acted, overcoming the predictable (and unrealistic) storyline. Visually and dramatically, the scenes work to conjure up the loneliness of a player fighting to win a game, not against his opponent but against himself. Interior monologues, shots of the roaring crowd, and resounding music allow us to feel the intensity of playing in a tournament like Wimbledon. Although the romance falls short of my expectations, Wimbledon comes out on top through the development of other relationships and a winning portrayal of professional tennis.

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BySeptember 24, 2004

The first meet may have been two weeks ago, but for the men’s and women’s cross country teams, the real competition starts tomorrow at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. The Red harriers will get their first real test of this young season against some of the country’s best runners in Iona’s 10th annual Meet of Champions. Women’s head coach Lou Duesing is anticipating good things. “I think the kids are very excited,” he said. “I’m very excited. I really like the quality of work they’ve been doing in practice. The dual meet at Army just didn’t give us any real read on where we are, but this will.” The competition will indeed be stiff, featuring nationally-ranked programs such as Marquette and Wake Forest, as well as regional forces Iona, Boston College and Boston University. The women will look to improve on last year’s seventh place finish in the meet, which they ran sans top runner Kate Boyles. Boyles, a senior, will be anchoring a very deep Red team in tomorrow’s six kilometer race. “Kate is doing a great job, running with a lot of confidence,” said Duesing. “Close on her heels is junior Emily McCabe, but after that there’s a whole group of people running the same kinds of times and working very well together. Right now, picking a top nine is extremely difficult, but to me that’s good news.” The men experienced similar results at Iona in 2003, finishing sixth overall, without the benefit of their top runner, junior Bruce Hyde. Distance coach Robert Johnson recognizes and welcomes the challenge that tomorrow’s competition will provide his number one guy. “Bruce is in fantastic shape, and this meet should be a tough challenge for him,” Johnson said. “[Third-ranked] Iona’s got several All-Americans running, which is exactly what he needs.” Johnson has a clearer idea than Duesing of how his varsity squad will shape up. Senior captain Emory Mort currently occupies the second spot, with sophomore Aaron Arlinghaus right behind. Johnson expects senior Oliver Tassinari and sophomore Brad Baird to battle for the fourth and fifth positions. Although Cornell is slotted sixth in the U.S. Cross Country Coaches Association Northeast Region poll, Johnson would rather wait until after his team has completed the eight kilometer course at Van Cortlandt to celebrate. “We’re not ready to compete with Iona, but the field’s pretty much wide open after that,” he said. “I’d like to think we could contend for second place, which would be nice.” Whatever the outcome, tomorrow’s meet will be an opportunity for the Red to get friendly with the Van Cortlandt course, which they will traverse in three more meets this year. “The course at Van Cortlandt is unique,” Duesing said. “You run almost a mile and a half before you even see a hill. So you get used to being in a rhythm, but then you hit the hills and it throws you out of it. What happens on those hills determines the outcome of the race. People either love or hate the course, but with the amount of races we have there, it’s better to learn to love it.” Archived article by Dan SchiffSun Staff Writer

BySeptember 24, 2004

Four years ago, the Cornell football team attempted to do what many thought to be impossible — sell out Schoellkopf Field. While the team and program fell short of the goal — only 16,654 attended the Homecoming game against Yale on Sept. 23, 2000 — those in attendance certainly saw a performance worth the price of admission. Tomorrow afternoon, as Jim Knowles ’87 returns to Schoellkopf for the first time as a head coach, Cornell will again attempt to sellout the historic Crescent. “It’s so much easier to play when there’s that excitement and electric atmosphere,” Knowles said. “Momentum, it’s a lot of spirit, a lot of people cheering you on, it just gives you an added lift to play better.” The Red will certainly have its work cut out, though, as it tries to stop its program record-tying losing streak at 10 games. Yale, which finished last season tied for second place in the Ivy League standings, enters the game following a road victory over a strong Dayton team. Blue chip tailback Robert Carr was the star for the Elis, as he compiled 172 rushing yards on 72 carries, scoring two touchdowns. He also starred on special teams, returning one punt and three kickoffs for a combined 70 yards. The All-Ivy second teamer will certianly create headaches for the Red defensive corps, which rushed for 115 yards and a touchdown last season against Cornell. The Yale offense also features fifth-year quarterback Alvin Cowan, one of the most fearsome signal-callers in I-AA football. “They’re obviously very good players, but our responsibility is only to take care of the stuff that we have to do,” said senior strong safety Brad Kitlowski. “That’s really what we’re focused in on, our job and stuff like that.” As for the Red, it will go into tomorrow’s game looking to improve upon its uneven performance of a week ago. While the defense was stellar, allowing the high-flying Bucknell offense only 15 points, the Red struggled a bit on the offensive end, scoring only nine points despite plenty of chances. Special teams was also wildly inconsistent for Cornell. On one hand, senior Joel Sussman blocked two field goal attempts by the Bison. On the other hand, senior placekicker Trevor MacMeekin struggled mightily, missing both of his field goal attempts on the game, in addition to a PAT. However, despite its apparent advantage, Yale is expecting a very tough game from the Red. “From a defensive perspective, they play very, very well,” said Yale head coach Jack Siedlecki. “They’re a big physical team up front of both sides of the ball, and they seem to be playing very hard.” Senior quarterback D.J. Busch, who enters the game after going 19-of-38 for 193 yards last week against Bucknell is expecting a top-notch effort from his team, though. “The general expectation is definitely to win,” Busch said. “Ivy opener, it’s important to come away with victory, and we’ll accept nothing less.” As the game is the Ivy opener for both teams, it will carry a little extra emotion, something that will be heightened even more by Knowles’ return to the Schoellkopf sideline. “[The emotions] come in waves. I’m trying to not become emotional about it, because I have to focus on Yale,” Knowles said. His primary focus remains, however, getting his team its first win of the season. “Offensively they can’t take us out of the running game. We have to keep at it and put different formations on the field to get the ball in there,” he said. “Defensively we’re going to try to generate more heat on the passer so we don’t leave our guys in the secondary out there so long.” All the while, the Cornell Football Association will try to make Knowles feel at home the best way it knows how — by helping to pack venerable Schoellkopf Field to the brim. Archived article by Owen BochnerSun Sports Editor